Front wheel bearing replacement.

[estoguy]

I folllowed this DIY: http://e30world.com/suspension/BMW-E...ng-Replacement

It was spot on. I did need to employ a 3 jaw puller (rented from Crappy Tire) to get the inner race off. Tried a bunch of stuff first. Now I know better.

Too bad the rears aren't like this. :(

[e30Villain]

[eLKuRLy]

Do you guys know what brand these are?

http://www.am-autoparts.com/1991/BMW/325i/front-wheel-bearings-and-hubs/AM-88274387/534930.html

[firemanory]

Odds are they are Chinese or some other non-German make. Price is great, but is an unknown, so hard to say if it is worth the risk.

[ST1G]

Its a pretty quick job to do a wheel bearings (I did both in 45 minutes) but why not just get a FAG. They are like $80 at autozone and will last much longer.

[eLKuRLy]

Its a pretty quick job to do a wheel bearings (I did both in 45 minutes) but why not just get a FAG. They are like $80 at autozone and will last much longer.

I only see Duralast and Timken.

[randomtask37]

i just bought 2 FAG from blunttech. they were just over 20$ a piece and they shipped FAST. I ordered them sunday night and i got them tuesday

[ST1G]

I only see Duralast and Timken.

The Timeken is a FAG.

[brent5631]

The dura last is a fag bearing also. FYI.

[eLKuRLy]

The Timeken is a FAG.

The dura last is a fag bearing also. FYI.

Thanks!!!

i just bought 2 FAG from blunttech. they were just over 20$ a piece and they shipped FAST. I ordered them sunday night and i got them tuesday

Do you have a part#

[randomtask37]

i just bought 2 FAG from blunttech. they were just over 20$ a piece and they shipped FAST. I ordered them sunday night and i got them tuesday

i made a mistake. this for for rear bearings

[shaferbm]

The dura last is a fag bearing also. FYI.

This is reassuring. I just did this job yesterday, and in a lapse of judgement, decided to go wit the Duralast assembly. Sounds like duralast just presses the FAG bearings into their own assemblies. I can live with that.
To press on the new bearing I used a block of wood and a hammer, the outer race was pushed out a bit by the stud the hub goes on, so I then used the 36mm socket to push it into its proper place.

Note: This was the easiest wheel bearing job I've ever done. Kudos for the simplistic e30!

[DIIRTY-30]

If you get em through Advanced, it's only $60 per side for the bearing/hub assembly. Plus, they usually have some decent deals going..

As for the inner race, several other Pro-3 guys gave me the tip of just slicing it up with a cut off wheel. If you happen to nick the spindle, it's not the end of the world, just hit it with some Emery cloth or sand paper (won't affect performance.) Considering these guys change their wheel bearings pretty regularly, they know some good tricks to get it done, quick like.

I know this is from 2 yrs ago but could you provide a link or elaborate? Anyone?

[M3 Ryan]

slice through the race with a die grinder, then hit with a hammer and chisel and it will fracture, relieving the tension on the spindle, then you can knock the race off... pretty easy.

[estoguy]

Just did this job again... interesting observation on the bearing dust shield. When I did my driver's side, I didn't have the bearing dust shield. I travelled 188,222 km before replacement.

I did my passenger side later on, and on that installation I did put the dust shield on - here's the interesting part - that bearing only made it 145,907.

There was a definite difference in how the back of the bearings looked - more rust and crud on the driver's side (without the shield). Obviously, the passenger side looked better having had the shield.

Interesting note though, that the driver's side bearing seemed to be in better shape, despite having traveled an extra 43K km without the shield (when I spun them before replacement, there was way more resistance on the passenger side).

Just on my own empirical evidence, I think the value of the shield is a bit dubious. Not to mention not having it made it much easier to get at the inner race - didn't have to mess around with getting the shield off - I just put on the 3-Jaw and off it came.

I should note too that both bearings from above were FAG bearings, and the new replacements are FAG as well.